Nintendo Switch: Dataminers Discover Hardware Update Clues
Dataminers have discovered possible references to upcoming changes in Nintendo Switch hardware – although this doesn’t necessarily mean an entirely new version of the console.
As spotted by ResetEra user Atheerios, dataminers at Switchbrew discovered a new folder, added after the console’s recent 5.0 firmware upgrade. The folder appears to point to a new Switch hardware configuration, seemingly codenamed ‘Mariko’.
Initially, Switch hackers believed that this may simply be covering a replacement CPU chip, swapping the current Tegra 210 with the Tegra 214, after it was discovered that the 210 was vulnerable to hacking, even with new firmware.
Brigitte Makes Her Way To Console and PC Today!
Brigitte is available in Overwatch so Erick and Joey take the new support hero into action.DC Releasing Prelude to the Wedding One-Shots Before Batman and Catwoman Marry
Batman and Catwoman are tying the knot in July, but before they do, DC is releasing a series of Prelude To The Wedding one-shots in June.
Comicbook.com reports the five stories will be written by Tim Seeley (Green Lanterns, Hellblazer), who will be joined by a number of artists from DC’s stable of talent, while Rafael Albuquerque will handle the covers.
Batman proposed to Catwoman in Batman #24 and after leaving us with a cliffhanger at the end of the issue, she finally said yes. DC Nation #0 was the first one-shot to be released in the countdown to the event that featured three stories.
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Matt Hardy’s “Ultimate Deletion” Succeeded Where WWE Once Failed
On the March 19 episode of Raw, WWE debuted the “Ultimate Deletion,” a pre-recorded (final?) confrontation between “Woken” Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt. After a wide variety of missteps while booking this feud, the WWE, in a rare instance of humility, allowed Matt Hardy to do whatever he wanted for his latest short film. The result was that #UltimateDELETION was the #1 worldwide trend on Twitter on Monday evening. WWE allowed something outside of its comfort zone to simply “be” and thus reaped the rewards.
I grew up during WWE’s New Generation Era, which meant that every Saturday, I’d cheer as pig farmers, circus clowns, psychotic dentists, and fitness gurus squared off in the ring. It was an age of outlandish gimmicks, when you could wrestle as a Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown survivor, and people would nod their heads and say, “Sure! That sounds reasonable.” It was done with a wink and a smile–an acknowledgement that this was fun, escapist entertainment and not an accurate reflection of the real world.
WWE has lost some of this fanciful, farcical “fun” over the years. Nearly every current superstar portrays an outsized version of himself, rather than a different character entirely. And that’s why left-field characters like Bray Wyatt, a backwoods cult leader who follows the teachings of Sister Abigail–and Woken Matt Hardy, who believes he is an immortal spirit trapped in a human vessel–stand out from the rest of the pack. They hearken back to the sort of free-wheeling, throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks ethos that WWE used to indulge.
It made sense for Hardy and Wyatt to feud with one another, especially leading into Wrestlemania 34. But over the course of several weeks, WWE killed their momentum with a series of lackluster, unimaginative matches accompanied by repetitive promos, where Hardy and Wyatt would trade off laughing at each other. That got stale in a hurry. Fans love Hardy’s Broken/Woken gimmick, which began in TNA, for its variety, randomness, and go-for-broke creativity. And this was not that.
So when Matt Hardy announced that there would be a pre-recorded Ultimate Deletion, even Hardy fans were skeptical, especially if WWE had final say and final cut. But thankfully, the Ultimate Deletion that aired this Monday was fun, weird, and oddly personal; WWE fans will put up with a lot of outlandish BS if the underlying intent behind it is sincere.
The little touches throughout the film, which lasted a little over 15 minutes, were nice; Reby Hardy played Bray Wyatt’s theme on her piano as he made his way to the ring. Hardy alluded to all his signature catchphrases–“I knew you’d come,” “Prepare the battlefield for annihilation,” “Skarsgard, my dilapidated friend!”–without harping on them. The Ultimate Deletion featured both the indoor ring and the outdoor ring from the previous films. Hardy used “boomsticks,” although (probably because WWE is PG) the two men didn’t launch the fireworks directly at each other. There was even a quick glimpse of Matt’s partner-in-crime Brother Nero, who was recently arrested for a DWI.
At its core, despite all the bells and whistles, the Ultimate Deletion was a falls count anywhere, no disqualification wrestling match, which added to its absurdity. And the match itself was very physical and well-worked, featuring stiff lariats and a painful looking apron spot. The straight-faced, official WWE referee, who’s keeping his veneer of professionalism while everything goes to hell around him, was a perfectly underplayed joke.
But most importantly, there was a sense of humor around the whole affair. It was silly and dumb, and rather than playing it straight-faced and selling the segment as a legitimate life-or-death scenario, the Ultimate Deletion let us in on the joke. And in doing so, it respected the audience. No one wants to be talked down to.
Compare the Ultimate Deletion to the Wyatt vs. Orton House of Horrors match, or to the Wyatt Family vs. New Day brawl at the Wyatt Family compound. Both were obvious attempts to rip off the Hardys’ films. Both of those pre-recorded segments had higher production values, slicker editing, and better effects than the Ultimate Deletion. But what they didn’t have was self-awareness. They took themselves too seriously, which is a fool’s errand in this type of narrative framework. Fans don’t care about production values when they can see honest effort–the sort of do-it-yourself scrappiness that the Ultimate Deletion had in spades.
The WWE brass now knows, thanks to social media, how popular these types of segments are. And hopefully, they also know to leave well enough alone, should Hardy want to film another one. In a company so preoccupied with image, polish, and branding, this rare sort of individual, messy creativity deserved the chance to stand on its own. And the Ultimate Deletion did.
FLCL 2 and 3 Release Dates and Official Titles Announced
FLCL’s sequels come in the form of FLCL: Progressive this summer and FLCL: Alternative this fall, Adult Swim announced.
On June 2, FLCL: Progressive, or FLCL 2 as it’s been known until now, will debut on Adult Swim’s Toonami at 11:30 PM (ET/PT). Progressive follows 14-year-old Hidomi and her classmate, Ide, as they’re pulled into antics to “unlock their hidden potential” by two otherworldly beings, Haruha Raharu and Jinyu. The synopsis promises the return of ATOMSK and a “certain Vespa Scooter.”
FLCL: Alternative, or FLCL 3, debuts sometime in September on Toonami. This season “hands the series over to a totally different team of young creators who will redefine the meaning of ‘sequel,’” the announcement states. Alternative features 17-year-old Kana and her three friends Pets, Mossan, and Hijiri who live ordinary lives until Haruko and a mech fall out of the sky. ATOMSK is also involved somehow in this season.
Personal Information Of 880,000 Orbitz Customers Likely Breached
Revisiting Rare’s Xbox Years With Studio Head Craig Duncan
Rare studio head Craig Duncan chats about his life and career, including his time running Rare. He discusses how Sea of Thieves arrived at its pirate theme, whether they might let other studios work on classic Rare IP, the Kinect years, and much more. Check out the video above for the entire interview!
If you’d rather listen than watch, here’s an audio-only download link of the full episode.
Here is a preview clip, with Duncan discussing how the Rare team considered vampire and dinosaur themes for Sea of Thieves before finally settling on pirates:
And if you missed it, here’s the last episode of Unfiltered, in which Diablo creator David Brevik discusses how Diablo came to be, what his never-finished version of Diablo 3 was like, and much more: